Field Gulls
You just knew that the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders would play a weird game. It’s the Seahawks, it’s Pete Carroll’s return to Seattle, and those two in tandem spent more than a decade playing in some of the craziest endings imaginable. Perhaps fittingly, the preseason opener ended in a 23-23 tie. The Seahawks dominated the first half and led 16-3, but the deeper into the depth chart we got the more the game tilted in the Raiders’ favor.
Jalan Gaines blocked Daniel Carlson’s would-be game winner on the final play of regulation, preserving a preseason tie. Overtime in preseason was eliminated back in 2021, so it was either a Raiders win or nobody wins.
We saw touchdowns from rookies Tory Horton and Jacardia Wright, all-around great play from Horton, Grey Zabel, and fullback Robbie Ouzts, and an offense that was committed to running the ball from start to finish, racking up 170 yards on the night. The second-string defense fared well against Aidan O’Connell, picking the backup QB off twice in the second quarter. Jalen Milroe led a touchdown drive in his NFL preseason debut, but was unable to lead a game-winning drive in his one-minute drill. George Holani may have made a major statement in his quest to be the third-string running back over Damien Martinez and others.
That was a fun game by preseason standards! We wouldn’t want it any other way when Pete is involved.
The Raiders started on offense with, yes, Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty and many other starters were on the field. Seattle’s second-string defense started the game, as Mike Macdonald indicated. Smith threw a completion to Tre Tucker on his first throw and that was it for first downs for Vegas on the first drive. It was also his only series of the game.
Drew Lock got the start behind a mostly first-team Seahawks offensive line, with Abe Lucas surprisingly starting on the opening drive. Tory Horton picked up his first NFL catch for seven yards, George Holani ripped a big run for 20 yards with Robbie Ouzts and Eric Saubert leading the way. Unfortunately, the drive ended with Lock getting picked off by Isaiah Polo-Mao on a throw intended for Horton.
After Aidan O’Connell’s first possession ended in a first down and a punt, the Seahawks got the ball back and leaned on their ground game and short passing some more. Drew Lock connected with rookie Elijah Arroyo on a third-down play to the Raiders 33. Two snaps later, Robbie Ouzts was key to springing George Holani free for a 24-yard touchdown. He was initially ruled down at the 1 but Mike Macdonald challenged and overturned the call.
PICK! Josh Jobe had a bit of a rough series when O’Connell came into the game, but he made up for it by intercepting a woefully underthrown ball intended for Donte Thornton Jr.
Seattle couldn’t capitalize on this turnover after Drew Lock fumbled a Jalen Sundell snap into the...
